Castrophany
by AnimationGirl
Summary: A young Tigress is haunted by her new-found instincts, and in an endless search for control, she seeks comfort in the training hall. Of course, Shifu's large ears will not let this go unnoticed, and this night, so many walls will break, just like the golden dominoes... *set just after "Secret of the Scroll", but can be read without having seen the film. My return to the KFP fandom*


A/N: I do not own Kung Fu Panda.

Set some days after "Secret of the Scroll", but can probably be read without having seen the film. It is heavily inspired by the scene where Tigress follows her instincts and Shifu angrily scolds her for breaking her stance.

 **Castrophany**

The scent informed her of his arrival. It crawled its way into the mix of smells that told her that she was home; a combination of sweat, sawdust and flower petals that belonged to the training hall. A nagging feeling in the back of her mind reminded her of the vague smell of blood, which she quickly dismissed as the smell of metal. The cruel reality was that the training hall would grant them many injuries in time, but since its doors had only been opened two days ago, it was limited how many times a training lesson had ended in blood.

Tigress was yet to gain a scratch. Since her Master had spoken the long-awaited words-

" _I am very proud of you."_

-the thirst in her soul had vanished. Though, the word 'vanished' did not describe it well. The thirst had transformed into a fire; the happiness that had evolved into a burning sensation, an eagerness to do more, to prove that there was so much more of her to be proud of, to accept. Tigress recognized the feeling from the first day she had left the orphanage. Back then she had strived to be a good daughter.

Now she had proven herself to be a good student.

The victory was bittersweet.

Eyes flickering towards the doors, the young tiger awaited her Master to appear. The sound of footsteps was clear to her now and her ears twitched in irritation. Ever since embracing this so-called "Tiger-style", a new world had been opened to her. The sounds, the smells – they had all been kept under a surface. There her instinct had been simmering, but in those brief fateful moments they had managed to bubble up. She had then seen the world through the eyes of a predator. It was a world full where her senses were sharpened until they reached the lethalness of her canines. Her vision was clearer, her hearing better, her reflexes stronger than ever.

It was like an adrenalin rush that pushed her closer to victory. It should be good, it should be appreciated.

And yet…

" _What are you doing? This is not proper form! This is not control! And stand on your feet!"_

The words, ever so fresh in her memory, still made her flinch. There was not a day where she did not remind herself of the word. _Control_. That had been her escape, her accomplishment. It was also her promise, and, in the end, her only hope. If she lost control, she would be nothing again.

And Shifu had looked down at her, seen the real her, the instincts, and had said those dreaded words.

She could push it away, remember how he had later praised her, but she could not ignore the truth. Tigress knew she was not in control, that _this_ was not control.

If she let go, if she let it fill her head… The scent of blood would fill her nose, because it seemed to be clinging onto the walls, the floor, the spikes and blades and hooks, in every corner of the training hall, temple, valley. The sounds would grow stronger until there would be echoes inside of footsteps, breaths, voices, shouting. She would know if anyone was running, limping, stumbling – a chaotic symphony of the wind blowing, doors smacking, the gong's melody, her Master instructingshoutingscoldingyellingcursing… Her friends' laughter behind the paper doors.

It hurt her ears, and she wanted to roar.

But her Master had just opened the doors to see her sunken form, and the last thing she would let past her lips was a roar.

Inside her head, a perfect pattern of golden dominoes was being released, the bricks falling over to break each other in the process.

"Tigress?" her Master asked, closing the door behind him in an all too familiar way.

Years later Tigress would realize, with a bitter laugh, that this was the first night she had snuck out to find comfort in the training hall. It would become a routine; train until the muscles were sore enough to block anything else out, except the chant; _control, focus, control, focus_ …

"Would you care to explain why you are not in your bed as you are supposed to?" Shifu asked, walking closer, the sound of his footsteps echoing around them.

There was silence until the truth came out as a cold hard statement that had crept into Tigress' guilt the moment she had done it. "I broke the club." Her head was lowered, ears flattened against it as she awaited his judgement.

It was him that had showed her how to hit it properly, how to dodge and block it. He had guided her hand, letting his cane trail down her arm to show her the correct stance. The days in the training hall had been filled with accomplishments; her friends had used the equipment for the first time, knowing they were now on their way to become true Kung Fu Master. Tigress had destroyed a swinging club with her Master's guidance, knowing that in time they would be heavier, there would be added spikes, they would become lethal. And she had smiled, glad to have a challenge.

Memories of countless days spent in the yard, whether there was rain, sun or wind, mimicking her Master's form.

" _Straighten up."_

Sore muscles obeying orders. Golden eyes staring straight ahead.

" _Lower stance. Hold your ground."_

Drops of sweat formed upon her forehead. Arms trembling in exhaustion are she straightened out, punching the invisible enemy in front of her.

" _Steady. Strong. Chin up."_

But there was no enemy. If anything, it was Shifu. It had been an endless game of copying him, his form, his perfection.

" _This is the way of Kung Fu."_

But it was not. Shifu was not her enemy. She was not Shifu. Thinking back, she wondered if all those years had been for naught, all those hours spent on molting her into a shape she could not fit.

And yet…

" _Focus."_

With his words, she had begun her chant. With enough focus, she would never let her limbs falter. Neither exhaustion, cold nor heat could touch her.

" _Control."_

She decided where her paw would go. There were no accidents. There were no emotions, no anger to make her forget. There was silence inside her head. She controlled her actions.

" _Control!"_

And now it was gone. Years of training, where she had sharpened her body into perfection, and now it was gone because of… what? It was not anger – Tigress knew that feeling perfectly, knew its familiar heat. This had been different, and the worst thing was that it had always been there. It had taken root inside of her, but it had first blossomed now.

Feline instincts, she realized, and she knew they were dangerous.

Tigress lifted her glance from the floor and saw that her Master had lifted his eyebrow in wonder. His blue eyes drifted towards the pile of shattered wood. "I see." He placed his hands behind his back, and after clearing his throat, he continued; "Could it not wait until the morning?"

Shifu was not completely blind, and to his own praise, he kept his tone as calm as possible. If Tigress was up in the middle of the night, it meant that something had kept her awake. In most cases, she would avoid the subject and let it haunt her until she reached her breaking point.

But he did not need to lure it out of her tonight.

The rim of her eyes was filled with water – quickly causing a paw to wipe it away in an angry motion. She had not cried in front of her Master for years, and she did not plan to break down in front of him the week he had finally praised her.

Taking in a deep breath, Tigress straightened out her back and revealed the true source of her problem.

"I meant to block it."

Shifu tilted his head, waiting for his student to explain further, and his expression did not change when Tigress fell into a bow in front of him.

"I am sorry, Master," she begged. Her words were stumbling out of her mouth, sounding as if she had water in her lungs. "I never intended to – but that's… that's what is wrong. I was practicing how to dodge, block… I never meant for it to – to break."

There was silence while she tried to steady her breathing. When she finally dared to look up, she found that Shifu was patiently waiting for her to meet his glance. His eyes were alert, and her heart dropped by the realization.

"But Tigress." His eyes bore into hers until she was unable to look away. "Why were you here?" her Master asked, gesturing to the hall they were standing in.

The young tiger squeezed her eyes shut. Wringing her body as if she was in agony, she finally reached into the small pocket of her vest, bringing out two pieces of golden wood.

It was a domino, snapped in half.

Tigress handed it to her Master, who held them up with slim fingers. The scene was so familiar to the both of them, whispers from the past hanging in the air.

With her ears flat against her head in fear, Tigress awaited anger. Surely disappointment. He would scold her, send her back to bed, and tomorrow she would practice her control again and again. With the club? Dominos, again? She did not know, and what would happen if she kept failing was also a mystery to her.

Finally, breaking the thick silence, Shifu spoke.

"I did not know you had kept these."

Surprised, Tigress dared to look up. "I… I pla-" She could have bit off her own tongue in anger. Quickly, she corrected herself. "I practice. With them. To make sure that I still have control. I haven't broken them since…"

"The orphanage?"

Tigress held her breath, unsure of what would come next. Shifu rarely, if ever, talked about her life before she came to the Jade Palace. She had hoped it was a silent agreement of theirs to spare her feelings. Dreams of gray walls and bolted doors still haunted her dreams. But inside the part of her that she barely dared to listen to, she knew that she wanted him to speak. Her expectations that day had been wrong, misguided. She could see that know. But the hope had never burned out, and if only he would reveal his true intentions that day, she could either quench the flame or feed it.

Shifu's blue eyes darted around. "Tigress," he began. "Have you spoken of this with your fellow students?"

They had both found it a relief that Tigress now had friends in the palace. Their friendship had formed quickly, much to Tigress' surprise, though, there was still a lot unsaid. She had heard their stories, praising them for their bravery or honesty or whatever virtue that had brought them on the right path, and had quietly explained she had been training at the palace for years.

It had then occurred to her how rarely she had been asked about her past. Shifu knew about it, so did Oogway, and sad as it could seem, those were the only important characters in her life. So when her friends' curiosity naturally had ended in a question, the tiger had been quiet for notable seconds before avoiding the truth with a white lie.

It felt surreal to have fellow students around her, someone trying to trigger a conversation while she was preparing her tofu, someone breathing in the room next to her. For years her nights had been silent, there had been no one but her, and now she found herself getting surprised each time she saw their shadows through the paper walls, when they suddenly called out their goodnights before the blew out their candles.

She was yet to get used to their presence, just as they had to get used to the hours of training and to be woken up by the heartless gong each morning. The memory of Monkey's and Mantis' grumpy faces this morning, dark bags under their tired eyes with harmless complaints muttered under their breath, was still clear in her mind, but the situation she now found herself in was too grave for her to laugh.

"I decided not to tell them, Master," she quietly explained. "About my past."

"Why is that? It should be no shame of yours to admit that you overcame an obstacle."

His words brought her no comfort, but instead she had to suppress a bitter sigh. Whatever obstacle she might have survived back then had fallen onto her path once again. Unless she found a way to get past it, she would be no better than her six-year-old self.

"There are other things I wish to tell them about first, Master. Besides, I do doubt how understanding they can be." It sounded colder than she meant to, and she found herself obligated to explain. "In truth, I believe it is hard for anyone to understand. Even myself. That is why I am here."

"So this is what this is about? Control?" His eyes were clouded by something she did not recognize, but she desperately searched for any signs of disappointment or disgust.

When she found none, she exclaimed, "I lost it today. I meant to pick up the domino and then…" Tigress glanced sadly at the pieces in Shifu's hand. "And I went here to train, to make sure that I had not forgotten. But at the touch, it shattered, and I…" She had spoken so quickly that she had run out of air, and after taking a deep breath, she continued, her lower lip trembling slightly. "I… I fear, Master. I fear that I have forgotten what you taught me. And I don't know why. But when it happens, my mind is distracted and-"

"When what happens, Tigress?"

There was a rare softness in his voice that surprised her, and suddenly she wondered if he had ever struggled with the same problem. But after another glance, she once again noted how Shifu was nothing like her. He had no canines, no claws, and yet she had so great fear of him. Respect, she corrected herself. She respected him, and with that followed a fear of disappointing him.

But he was no feline and he would not understand.

The only other feline had been Tai Lung, and that was only a dark reminder of how her fate could turn out to be.

"There are sounds. I never picked them up before, only if I really concentrated." She clenched her fists, straining herself to ignore the sounds that seemed to be closing in on her, now that she had spoken her problem out loud. They were lurking around her, waiting for the moment she dropped her defense. "Now they serve as a distraction. There are moment, Master, where I forget my purpose and… let go." There was a lack of words to describe the sensation better. "Like when we were training, before you fell ill. They are moments where I forget to be Tigress the Student, but I become Tigress the…" The forbidden word was on her tongue, spreading a bitter taste within her mouth.

However, she was never given the chance to finish her sentence.

"I see," Shifu said with a nod. "You become Tigress."

"No, I – that is not me."

There was determination in her voice that Shifu recognized from when she had been a small child, stamping her foot on the ground whenever she insisted that she was not tired or ready to learn techniques far above her age.

"But we cannot flee from what we are. Being a feline, you have a fierce violence in your moves. You will never have the nature of the Crane, for as we all now, your instincts will never lean towards deflection. You will attack, and your senses will guide you to where and when to hit. But as you have experienced, they will not always be to your own advantage. However, I do enjoy the sound of the wind playing the petals, do you not?" He kept his eyes shut, head slightly lifted as if he tried to listen more closely to the nature outside the hall. Though, in his curiosity, he slowly pried an eye open to take a glance at Tigress' face.

The young tiger had let her walls down for a moment, allowing the sound of the night in. It was calmer than the day where everyone was awake, but soon her ears were filled with the sound of her Master's steady breathing.

Then it was pushed away, replaced by the creaking noise of one of the Seven-Talon Rings swinging back and forth. The sound was unpleasant, and Tigress took in another deep breath as she now was aware of how the wind was flowing through the bamboo canes outside the training hall. Giving herself into her sense, she followed the wind mentally until she could hear it blowing through the peach tree, its petals rustling slightly before ascending to the sky.

With a shock, Tigress pulled back, almost unable to comprehend that she had not witnessed the scene with her eyes. "You can hear it, too?" she ask, her mouth slightly open in a mix between hope and wonder.

Shifu suppressed a knowing smile. It was not often that Tigress allowed herself to look as befuddled as she was now, and he was aware that tonight was a turning-point for the young tiger.

With a tilted head, he lifted an eyebrow. "Tigress, have you never noted the size of my ears?"

Tigress hesitated for a moment, wondering if there was a hidden test in the seemingly innocent question. Being a predator, she knew she was the last one to judge by appearances. "I have seen bigger," she finally answered with as much respect in her voice as possible.

The corners of her Master's mouth were forced to move upwards. "Your humility does you credit, Tigress, but we have to acknowledge that my ears are not small. This allows me to detect an enemy sneaking up on me – or notice when a student of mine sneaks out of her room in the middle of the night. As you can imagine, those are quite useful abilities. But whenever a thunderstorm let us know it is here, or when a student trips and knocks over the weapon rack…" The tiger was now staring at her feet with a blush in her cheeks, but he continued nonetheless, "One might wish he never had such large ears."

"I'm sorry, Master."

He held up his hand, immediately silencing her. "This is no scolding, Tigress, but my explanation of how you must come to terms with your senses. That will take time, but you will learn how to control it."

"But I lost my control!" a distressed Tigress called out. "When I give in, I just follow what they – I want in that moment."

"And what is that?"

Giving him a shrug, she tried to find the right words. They were slipping on her tongue, because in truth, she was yet to understand her urges, her sudden lack of restraint. "It's different. Sometimes I hear or smell something, and I want to leap or pounce… And I have growled without realizing why."

"These are your instincts, Tigress, and they will be triggered whenever a sense grows overwhelming. That will happen, especially considering what period of your life you have just entered…" He immediately trailed off, never wanting to have to bring up this conversation with her. Now, with another female around, he hoped life would get easier for the young tiger, but he knew he would never ask her if her situation had improved. The subject was too sore, too unfamiliar for him to touch upon. "It can, however, be trained, just like your anger was."

"But what if I snap?"

"You handled The Boar quite well, should I remind you."

Tigress was forced to recognize the truth in his words, but still held on to her arguments. Though her confidence had faltered, she was yet to admit that she might not have any reason to worry. "But I was not alone."

"And now, having fellow students, you will not have to fight alone."

There was irritation in his voice now, so clear to her after years of training herself to detect whenever she had displeased him. But now she had bared her heart, and knowing that if she went to bed now, she would stare at the ceiling until sunrise, and so she had to find true reassurance before falling quiet again. "But what about later? Years from now, if I forget to think, and I become just like…" Knowing she was not to mention the name, she wrung her paws in sorrow and frustration. "I wish I had no emotion to mislead me."

Shifu sighed, finally admitting defeat to ending this conversation. He knew his duty as her Master, but he rarely found joy in these emotional moments, especially when the subject came close to the memories he would not speak of. But he then remembered all the guidance his own Master had given him through the years, and gesturing with his hand for her to follow, he turned around to leave the hall. "Come with me."

Tigress sniffed one last time when her Master's back was turned towards her, but then quickly caught up with him. When he said nothing, she tried to control her curiosity, as she knew she was not to ask question when her Master was leading her. She would trust him without hesitation. Yet, trying to spot evidence in Shifu's expression, she looked down at him and suddenly realized how tall she had become. At times like this, it was difficult to understand how he could ever pose a threat to her, but Tigress knew that he only needed to raise his voice and she would fall to her knees, asking for forgiveness.

The Jade Mountain was asleep around them, darkness embracing the buildings. Shifu had picked up a candle when he had left the hall, now holding it as a guiding light as he moved through the palace grounds. The golden eyes of Tigress' were glowing in the night, and she realized she did not need the candle Shifu held in front of him.

Because of this, she felt a brief moment of pride of her ability, but her thoughts was interrupted when Shifu finally spoke, "Like your anger, this is not something will vanish, no matter how hard you try to fight it. It will remain inside you, but it can be controlled. It is a matter of balance."

"Will this training require dominoes?" Tigress asked, wondering if she would have to buy the toys in the village. Until she was sure she would not break them, she would not dare to touch the ones she found most precious, the golden ones, the ones Shifu had given her.

"I have already taught you that lesson, Tigress. Tonight, I will give you insight."

"Of what, Master?"

As he continued walking, Tigress realized they were heading towards the peach tree. If she isolated the back of her mind, she could still hear the whispers caused by the petals' dance.

"Tigress, before you were about to mutter an example of what can happen to a Master should he give into his deepest emotions and desires." He had to force the words of his mouth, knowing very well how much pain this would cause him. But this story served as a warning, one that should be followed. Had he not changed since the accident? He had learned of his mistake, and had this not only brought good things with it? Tigress, isolated as she might be, had been free of the corruption he would have spread had he let his walls down.

The tiger immediately knew what he was talking about and lowered her head. "My apologies, Master. I did not mean to-"

"Tell me of who you spoke of."

She sucked in a sharp breath, unsure if this was a test. "Tai Lung," she finally answered him, the forbidden word leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Briefly, she wondered if the distant smell of blood was something he had left behind.

Shifu lowered his head slightly. "And what did he do?"

"He let anger fill him, Master. And greed…"

"The emotions corrupted him, yes. The story serves as an example of what can happen, should a Master let his own emotions cloud his judgement…" He was talking to himself now, he realized with shame, but quickly straightened out his back now when the story had been told. "But tell me, what happens when a Master lets no emotion touch him?"

"His mind will stay clear, Master."

"Will it?" Shifu looked away from her to stare at the path ahead of him. "Tigress, do you remember the time I brought you to the City of Fengwen?"

"Yes, Master." She had only been eleven back then, young and hopeful and excited to see a place outside the Valley of Peace. It had been a journey to show her some of the places that had played an important part in the history of Kung Fu, and they had stayed overnight in the city. To Tigress' joy, she had arrived in the city at a special day. "There was a tournament, where young warriors would fight each other to win gold and fame." She remembered the roar of the crowd, how she had joined their excitement, but then, after spending the last five years in the Jade Palace, she had been able to spot the flaws in the warriors' attacks and defense. That had made her hopeful. "When I asked if I could enter, you were…" Angry, outraged, hurtful. "…displeased."

"Yes. But should those fighters call themselves warriors?"

The questions kept coming, baffling her each time. "They had mastered the art of Kung Fu…"

"'Mastered'?" Shifu snorted, distaste in his voice. "A few of them, if lucky. But have they ever felt what it takes to be a Kung Fu Master? Have they ever risked their life for an innocent?"

"No, Master, they have not."

"Our art deserves no materiel reward, Tigress. Those fighters, whatever you might have thought of them, fought for something as selfish as coin and fame, yes. I would not let you have any part of that." They had reached the edge of the cliff, standing next to the peach tree that swayed in the wind. They stared the village below them, a dim light emerging from only a few of the houses. "Why do you fight, Tigress?"

There was a bitter answer inside of her, that deep down she knew she never had the choice. If she had chosen not to come to the Jade Palace, she would have stayed inside the orphanage, met by disappointed each time the to-be-parents would come, and when she had finally grown of age, she would have been thrown to the streets where she would, as a lone woman, have faded into nothing. The choice had never been hers.

But…

"I fight because it is the right thing to do."

"And what tells you that?"

Tigress did not know where those thoughts came from. She tried to listen to the voices inside her of, but for once, her ears were met by silence. "I do not know, Master."

"To be a Kung Fu Master requires heart." Shifu's voice was stern, but not as when he was scolding her. There was determination, a trace of certainty. "You _must_ feel something."

Tigress was hesitant to take in his words, but knew this was the comfort he was giving her. "Yes, Master."

"You will feel your instincts, but like your strength, you will learn to control it and turn them into your own advantage. You cannot deny your senses, but you can determine how much they will fill you."

"Will you train me?"

"I am your Master and so it is my duty to train you," he answered her quickly. "But this is your journey, and it is you who decides who Tigress shall be."

"And what if I don't like being Tigress, Master of the Tiger style? What if I preferred the way of… your way of Kung Fu?"

He shook his head. "We both known you have grown tired of 'steady, strong, chin up'. No, Master Oogway was right, you cannot follow me. You must make your own path. I will guide you to make sure you refine your skills to the utmost point, and I have my trust that you will not disappoint me."

"I…" Shocked, she bowed to show her gratitude. "Thank you, Master."

"Control will be required – we cannot have you growling each time the wind pick up a leaf, can we?" he asked, a softer tone in his voice as he referred their training in the yard days ago. "But you will learn from your mistake."

Sending her one last glance, he turned away to walk towards the barracks. Tigress took one step forward to follow him. "But Master, I broke-" She was cut off when he suddenly flung something at her, and, without thinking further about it, she reached up her paw to catch it before it could hit her face. Slowly lowering her limb, she could see that she was now holding a domino, golden and intact.

In front of her was Shifu, looking over his shoulder to take a glance at her. "You have not forgotten."

With a smile growing on her face, she called after him, "Master, if you allow me so, I would like to stay out here for a little longer."

"As long as you remain prepared for the morning gong. Your fellow students need an example of how one should greet their Master with a rested and ready mind."

Then he walked away, Tigress listening to his footsteps until they become too weak for her to hear. In the still night, what was left was her steady heartbeat, a slow rhythm in the darkness.

For now, there was calm. The sweet smell of the peach tree tickled her nose. Tomorrow the valley would wake, and she would be faced with new scents, new sounds when her fellow students would be walking, running, talking, shoutingyellingpantinglaughing…

But there was her heartbeat, steady even as she imagined the chaos around her.

She would learn. She had to. As a Master of the Jade Palace, she would use her instincts to protect the Valley. She would refine them, turn herself into perfection. And she could make her Master proud – again.

But that would require control.

And she knew where to find that.

Having the night for herself, she took one glance at the palace before falling on all fours. Her secret place was waiting for her, calling for her to visit them. And so she ran as fast as she could, first stopping when she crouched before the mighty Iron-wood Trees that were stretching towards the sky.

She would get familiar with her instincts, but she needed something steady she could fall back on, a firm control that would not falter.

Standing on two legs, she placed herself in front of the tree as so many nights before. The stance was so familiar to her. She straightened up, lowered her stance, held her ground, lifted her chin up.

She was steady. Strong.

In a blink of an eye, she paw lashed out against the tree, her palm meeting the rough bark. The felt the pain spreading up her arm like lighting, but compared to the first time she punched the wood, it was a mere sting.

Again.

 _Focus_.

Taking in a deep breath, she regained her posture. Now with her left paw, she lashed out. Pain, but she could endure it.

 _Control_.

Tigress would repeat this procedure again and again through the night, only returning to bed hours later.

 _Focus_.

And she would return night after night as the year passed by.

 _Control_.

She would grow stronger.

 _Focus._

The pain would cease.

 _Control_.

She would learn how to block out smells, sounds, any distraction. Her mind would only be filled with what she let in.

 _Focus_.

But there were times where the desires would grow strong, where her claws would show without her notice, where a growl would leave her throat before she could stop it.

 _Control._

Like when a panda took her title. Or Tai Lung smirking in her face. Or the peacock lighting the fuse. But then…

 _Focus._

She would only let it out for it to travel down her muscles, adding strength to her punches, speed to her legs, terror to her roars.

 _Control_.

She was not Shifu.

 _Focus._

She was Tigress.

 _Control._

And for the first time, that felt like being enough.

"Straighten up," she told him, making sure he was facing the tree. "And lower your stance."

He was a quick learner, and did what he was told.

"Now hold your ground." She was circling around him, watching for any flaws. It was the first time he tried this, yes, but that did not mean his stance should be sloppy. "You have to be steady. Strong." She took her place next to him, falling into the stance herself. "Chin up."

"How bad will it be?"

"You are about to find out." She looked straight ahead, towards the bark, and he copied her action. "Now," she ordered, and they both stretched out their right arm.

There was silence, but then…

"Owiiiie!"

Po jumped around on the spot he was standing, blowing on his paw to ease the pain.

Tigress hid a smirk, walking towards him to check if he was seriously injured, though she doubted it. The Dragon Warrior should not fall to a tree.

The panda looked at her with a shocked expression. Removing his paw from his mouth, he asked, "Twenty years? That's really crazy, you know that, right?"

"It was a necessary part of my training, Po," she answered gently, and in sentimentality, she rested a paw upon the bark. "As you can imagine, you need mental control to endure this."

"So it's like a part of the Tiger style?"

She tilted her head. "I suppose. I am unsure of this method's origin."

Po grinned, still waving his paw. The pain had now faded into a sting, but it hurt nonetheless. "If this is Tiger style," he began, eying the trees again, respect in his eyes. "What do you think Panda style contains then?"

"You mean besides eating, sleeping and breaking the record of how many almond cookies one can eat in a minute?" she retorted with a smirk, crossing her arms.

"I am shocked!"

"I wouldn't be. Monkey, of course, held the record until you arrived, but your skills when it comes to eating are unbeatable."

Po shook his head. "No, I mean, I am shocked that the great Master Tigress just made a joke!" He punched her on the arm teasingly, but she did not feel it.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I have grown soft."

"Nah. You can punch these trees barkless in fear! That would definitely mean you're the strongest warrior in China."

She did feel his words. "Thank you, Po," she said softly.

"You're welcome." The panda took another glance at the trees, following them upwards until his eyes reached the sky. "So… I am not quite sure if this should be a part of the Panda style."

Tigress chuckled briefly. "Perhaps you are right."

"And since you were the one who mentioned it, perhaps I should return to the palace to practice my skill at eating cookies."

"It _is_ almost dinner time." Stretching out her back, she stepped away from the tree to take her place beside Po as they started their walk back to the palace.

Suddenly, she felt the panda reach out to place a paw upon her shoulder. "But just because the Dragon Warrior ain't doing it, it doesn't make that," he pointed over his shoulder back at the Iron-wood Trees, "any less severely cool."

Tigress smiled and her ears pricked up as she listened to the wind that gently caressed her face. It brought along the melodies of the Jade Palace.

Back home, she knew Shifu was playing his flute.

* * *

A/N: Castrophany is an amazing word taught to me by my favorite band Gorillaz. It's a combination of catastrophe and cacophony. My thoughts will grow into castrophany on bad days. I found it fitting.

So how, after years of absence, did I manage to finish this? It was a painful procedure. In an attempt to spoil myself, I bought "Life is Strange" and made a promise not to play it until I had posted this. So every, I came home from school, looked at the game, sad face, spent three hours on homework, was finally finished, looked at the game, sad face, and then wrote on this until I had to go to sleep….  
So guess what I am playing right now!

Seriously, I have no idea of what this. That one scene from "Secret of the Scrolls" with Tigress crouched in an animalistic style without her even realizing what she had done, and then Shifu hovering over her, yelling at her to stand on her feet… I just figured I should write down some reflections to give you readers. Then it just grew longer, and, well. I hope you like it.

I might not return to my unfinished stories, as I have grown a love for one-shots, but I planned a collection of these that I might soon post the first chapter of. That story will be heavily inspired by the readers' wishes, so I hope you will stick around, but more information will come along with the first chapter of the story.

Thank you to all you lovely readers who favorited and followed my stories and even written to me in the years of my absence. I wish I could tell you how much it has meant, but for once I am in the lack of words.


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